Is it not true that the answer lies some where in the middle as in all things. So keep the conspiracies theories aside and see what the issues for women really are.
A. Equal social rights to work and respect in the office. Do they get that?? So perhaps laws guaranteeing women no discrimination in the office and pay wise would be a legitimate outcome of this.
No, they get preferential treatment!
1. Women are allowed parking over men, when there is limited parking
2. Women are allowed to leave at 5:00 sharp while men have to continue until 7-8
3. Women are allowed to enter Lifts and Offices, Men will give them preference and way
4. Women will get leaves at will whereas Men often have to beg for even earned leaves
5. Generally, Women will get their way over and above men simply because men give preference to women
6. Women will then compete with men equally over Annual Increment and Promotions, may even get preference
7. Women will get picked for trainings more
8. Women will get jobs on quota when they are unable to compete on merit etc.
9. Women will always get support on cases of harassment where men will be treated guilty even before proof is presented.
The above is all from practical work environment as opposed to stories of harassment or abuse. I will also give an example on point 9 above, a friend of mine was working for a big nation wide company and was accused of sexual harassment. My friend was exonerated thanks to the CCTV cameras which proved beyond doubt that the woman was lying. However, in the 2-3 days before the commission examined the evidence and exonerate him, the entire office condemned my friend as a harasser. It was never the same even after he was proved innocent; he later on demanded that the woman be fired from her position but she was instead asked to resign which she did. He also eventually resigned in disgust with the HR.
There are always 2 sides to every story; and there are genuine cases where women are harassed, there is undivided support all across for women in such cases.
B. Safety at home. In asian societies women are beaten with no one who listens to them, even if they complain. In UK if your wife or even you report domestic violence it necessaitates a visit by the police to your home. Can a Pakistani woman expect the same rights? Perhaps formulation of rights and responsibilities may be helpful.
There are even cases of women beating their husbands. Both are wrong! Domestic violence is not acceptable and the Father/Brother of any such women will make sure that the woman is protected.
When in doubt, refer to Shariat, Sunnah and the Quran.
C the right of A WOMAN TO MARRIAGE. I understand there is a Wali needed for a marriage to be enacted but with the current archaic trneds should women not have the right to dictate who they marry as long as it is within the remit of Islam.So where do the Zaat Paat and Biradiry come into this? These are questions that need to be asked. Can we promulgate laws whereby if the woman decides she wants to marry someone other than who her parents dictateshe has the right to go to court s and the courts assign a Wali and marry the couple. MPOREMPORTANTLY the court assures the safety of the couple from harm by the girls parents/Brothers.
Wali or no Wali, the woman must give her consent to marriage. Forced marriage is neither allowed by law nor religion.
D. Karo Kari: Do people not agree that this is a heinous crime and the person deserving of the treatment is the abductorather than the poor abductee. It is akin to cutting off ones own foot to spite your enemy. Do we have actionable laws which are promulgated and enforced to assure women they can consider themselves safe from this evil.
Karo Kari is neither allowed by law nor religion.
E. Marriage to Quran and other evil practices to avoid giving the women their inheritence. Do readers feel this s right and how should this be prevented.
This is gross injustice to the victim. Religion is specifically strong on the rights of widows and orphans, the weak ones in general.
F: The woman's right to have a home of her own rather than be stuffed in her In Laws home, Beleieve it or not it is the right of a woman to have a home of her own.
See it is very easy to blame others but when one looks at the underlying problems one has to accept that this is a reaction of decades if not centuries of injustice metted out to women. Is this not a reaction to these and instead onf malligning everyone if one were to sit down and see what hte issues are one may find a moderate path.
The fact remains that the society needs to change and adapt to the newer generations who want to impose their own thinking on how things aught to be. While "Mera Jism meri Marzi" sounds a bit crass but if one gives the women their just rights as assured in Islam we will avoid half the evils that are brought forward by nefarious designs and by shady actors to highlight a situation which is inherently unjust to begin with. Unless you as a society clear the decks of all evil you do not have the right to dictate what a segment of the society does. Perhaps in their very crass way is the depiction of the inherent gaping holesa in our handling of our women.
It is not just about crass sounding placards or statements but rather the purposeful and incitement inducing use of dual meaning sentences which benefit no-one. There are many other perfectly acceptable list of demands that women could have chosen which would have been supported by a large majority of Pakistanis such as:
1. Right to Education
2. Right in Will
3. Right to marriage of choice etc.
and so on.